August 15, 2014

Gun nuts' hypocrisy on government power

By Francis WilkinsonWhat I was looking for, of course, was outrage over "jack-booted thugs" terrorizing the populace. After fundraising and paranoia, outrage is the NRA's chief product. Whether it's President Barack Obama conspiring to subvert the constitution and strip citizens of self-defense, or former President Bill Clinton deliberately fomenting violent crime as a predicate to gun control, NRA leader Wayne LaPierre has always been extra vigilant about government's potential to abuse its police powers.

"If you have a badge" under the freedom-hating Clinton administration, he said in 1995, "you have the government's go-ahead to harass, intimidate, even murder law-abiding citizens."

I wonder: Has the shooting death of the Missouri teen traumatized LaPierre into silence?

After all, Twitter is full of images of police dressed in camouflage and looking for all the world like a powerful government militia terrorizing the citizens of Ferguson. The NRA has previously lamented "black-suited, masked, massively armed mobs of screaming, swearing agents invading the homes of innocents." LaPierre has expressed grave concern over "federal agents wearing Nazi bucket helmets and black storm trooper uniforms to attack law-abiding citizens." Surely, if anyone in the U.S. is concerned about police forces abusing their lethal powers, it must be LaPierre, self-styled guardian of individual rights, protector of the little guy, scourge of overzealous government agents.

Yet once again, an unarmed black boy or man has been shot dead by police, and LaPierre is silent. I just can't figure it out.Later postings make a similar point:

Every dystopian warning of the gun group has come true in Missouri, yet the organization is offering no sympathy for the African American victims.

By Cliff SchecterYet somehow, the NRA seems to have missed the whole thing with the SWAT teams and the tank-like vehicles and the snipers and the LRAD sound cannon and the tear gas and the rubber bullets being trained on unarmed Americans. Not a peep from LaPierre on this extended assault on citizens of Ferguson, at least that I can find.

If I were suspicious of their motives--and I am--I might point out that when I visited their 9 acres of militarized gun-fun also known as their convention in Indianapolis, I saw fewer black faces than in your average episode of The Dukes of Hazzard. I'd also point out that LaPierre blows just about every tune he knows on his dog whistle, when warning his membership of the horrors confronting them during this period when violent crime has fallen to its lowest level in a generation:We don't trust government, because government itself has proven unworthy of our trust. We trust ourselves and we trust what we know in our hearts to be right. We trust our freedom. In this uncertain world, surrounded by lies and corruption everywhere you look, there is no greater freedom than the right to survive and protect our families with all the rifles, shotguns, and handguns we want. We know in the world that surrounds us there are terrorists and there are home invaders, drug cartels, carjackers, knockout gamers, and rapers, and haters, and campus killers, airport killers, shopping mall killers and killers who scheme to destroy our country with massive storms of violence against our power grids or vicious waves of chemicals or disease that could collapse our society that sustains us all.Besides making you wonder who spiked his drink with goofballs, what jumps out about that friendly little harangue? Who do you think LaPierre's speech is meant for when he mentions "terrorists" and "drug cartels" and "carjackers" and "knockout gamers?" I promise you the hardcore gun fetishists he's preaching to are not picturing Eric Rudolph or George Jung.

If in doubt, the NRA's board can clarify the leadership’s view of the world. Burnt out rock n' roller Ted Nugent has referred to the "Dark Continent of Africa," and called President Obama “an avowed racist who claimed because Trayvon Martin was black…a gangster and an attacker and a doper, that he could have been his son."

By Allen Clifton[O]ne thing I’ve noticed is an absolute hypocrisy by conservatives and the right-wing media in general toward this situation. Where is their unwavering support for Mike Brown and the people protesting in Ferguson?

Isn’t the common narrative behind this story that a law enforcement officer unjustly killed unarmed man?

Heck, after Cliven Bundy was found guilty in a court of law several times many pundits on Fox News, and conservatives in general, rushed to the defense of Bundy’s “stance against injustice.”

“Militias” (aka guys who bought camouflage and guns at Walmart) showed up in force to “defend against” law enforcement officials carrying out court orders. But they didn’t just show up, they stayed for weeks after. Hell, to many, Bundy is still a “conservative hero” despite the fact that he’s been found guilty of breaking the law by several different judges.

So, where are these people now?

Isn’t that what these protesters say happened in Ferguson–an injustice? Aren’t many people claiming that the force shown by local law enforcement is an attack on the constitutional rights of those Americans?

Well, where the hell are these “patriots”? Where’s the “local militia” defending these people against the “overreaching arm of law enforcement”? Where’s Sean Hannity spending hour after hour, day after day defending their rights on Fox News?

Oh, that’s right, they’re no where to be found.

Because like with everything else, conservatives only care about the constitutional rights for those who they think should have them. In Cliven Bundy, they took a look at him and many conservatives saw themselves in the mirror. A white, Christian anti-government individual who lived out in the country and loved guns. To them, that means he’s more deserving of their support.

That’s why when it comes to Mike Brown, and finding out the truth of what happened, most of them honestly couldn’t care less. Because he’s not exactly the “conservative type” like Cliven Bundy was, if you know what I mean.Comment: Yes, when will all the cowardly Bundy Ranch and border patrol types march to Ferguson and take on Obama's stormtroopers? When?!

Oh, wait. They want protection from black and brown government. Also known as socialism, paganism, and Sharia. Not protection from white government. Also known as the real America, the Constitution, and God's country.